Machine for separating light and heavy substances



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. H.- SEGK. v momma FOR SEPARATING LIGHT AND HEAVY SUBSTANCES. No.306,648. Patented Oct. 14, 1884.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet .2. H. SEGK.

MACHINE FOR SBPARATING LIGHT AND HEAVY-SUBSTANCES. No. 306K348. PatentedOct. 14, 1884.

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H. SEGK. MAGHINBPOR SBPARATING LIGHT AND HEAVY SUBSTANCES.

No. 306,648. Patented 0012.14; 1884.

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(No ModeL) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

I H. SB CK. I MACHINE FOR SBPARATING LIGHT AND HEAVY SUBSTANCES. No.306,648. Patented Oct. 14, 1884.

,jw/veze/ion (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

H. SEOK. MACHINE FOR SBPARATING LIGHT AND HEAVY SUBSTANCES. No. 306,648.

' Patented Oct. 14, 1884.

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HEINRICH SEGK, OF DRESDEN, SAXONY, GERMANY.

MACHINE FOR $EPARATING LIGHT AND HEAVY SUBSTANCES.

ZBFEC'IFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 306,648, datedOctober 14, 1884.

Application filed April 12. I884. (No model.) Patented in Bcgium March3!, I884, No. 64,567.

substances, and is more particularly intendedfor the purification ofgrits and middlings in the manufacture of flour, with a view to obviatethe danger of fire and explosion arising from the deposition of the dustsucked from the said r-niddlings, and heretofore generally collected inseparate. dust-collectors or dustchambers.

The invention consists in the construction and the combination of partshereinafter particularly described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 is alongitudinal vertical section of a machine constructed ac cordingto this invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same. Fig. Sisan end view of the same. Figs. 1 and 2 show part of the rocking sieveconstructed with the said grate drawn to an enlarged scale. Figs. t and5 show the device for beating the filtering-cloth.

4 Figs. (5, 7 and 8 illustrate the means for tighteniug and stretchingthe said cloth, and Figs. 9, 10, and 11 show amodification of the saidmeans.

All the views of details above mentioned are drawn to enlarged scales.

A indicates the frame of the machine, having the upper end plates, a oin which are suitably j ournaled the four rollers d d d (1*; arrangedlongitudinally of the frame.

0 indicates the endless filtering-cloth pass ing over the said fourrollers, and moving transversely of the machine when rotatory motion isimparted to the rollers. Upon each end of each of the four rollers issecured a sprocketwhcel, Z. The four sprocket-wheels on each end of themachine are connected by an endless chain, c, the several links of whichare firmly connected by means of suitable hooks or staples with thefiltering-cloth 0, so

that the latter will be stretched in the direction of its len th andpartake of the motion of the chains 0 w hen the latter run over theseveral sprocket-wheels Z. I

an indicate wooden bars of convenient shape which are arranged aroundthe flanges of the end plates, a a and held in position thereon by meansof suitable connecting-plates a, secured to the end plates, a a and barsn by belts or screws, the said bars a serving to hold thefiltering-cloth in contact with the flanges of the end plates, a a so asto prevent the outside air from entering the interior of the machine. Asshown in Figs. (3 and 8, the said connecting-plates a have an angularform in order to allow the chain c to pass between them and the platesto a"; but in cases where thechain is dispensed with as ameans forimparting motion to the filteringcloth the plates a may be of the and11.

In the modified arrangement illustrated in the latter figures thetightening and stretching of the filtering-cloth is provided for asfollows: The rollers d, &c., near each of their ends, are provided withcircular grooves or channels'c and between the said rollers the endplates, a a of the frame are constructed with flanges (1*, projectinginwardly and having the grooves 0 A strip of leather or other suitablematerial is fastened by stitching to the under side of the outer rims ofthe filteringcloth c, and asimilar strip of linen inclosing a rope, (W,is stitched to the under side of the leather. The rope (1* is insertedinto the said grooves c and c, and is held in position therein by meansof the bar a, fastened upon the end plate a by the connecting-plate athus holding the filtering-cloth longitudinally in a stretched position,while at the same time the connection between the end plate and thefilteringcloth is tightened effectually, so that air cannot e11- ter theinterior of the machine from without. Of the end plates, a a the one, a,is closed, while the other, a is providedwith a suitable opening, whichis connected to the conduitO of the ventilators 0, so as to allow thelatter to suck the air from the interior of the filtering-cloth athrough the said'end plate c plain form shown in Figs. 9

g indicates a plate or board secured to the inner sides of the endplates, at a, and bearing with the least friction possible against thetwo rollers (1 (P, but at the same time tightening well upon the saidrollers d and (2 so as to divide the interior of the filtering-cloth ainto two spaces or co1npartments-that is to say, into a space, 00, whichis acted upon by the flow of air caused by the sucking action of theventilators, and into aspace, 1 which is not disturbed by the saidsucking action, and the flow of air thereby produced. Another plate orboard, 72, is arranged above the filteringeloth c, and secured, in asimilar manner to the board to the end plates, a a the said plate Italso bearing with little friction, but with a tightening effect, againstthe outside surface of the filteringcloth a, passing over the roller (Zand against the head-plate A of the machine in order to exclude theair'suctiou from the space or compartment g on the lefthand side of themachine. This space 11/ is prevented from being acted upon by the saidairsuction by the extension plate or board 9 of the trough of theconveyer z bearing tightly against the left-hand side plate, A, of themachine, and by the upper right-hand flange of the said trough bearingwith a tightening effect against the outer surface of the filteringclothpassing over the lower roller, (1. Arranged in the said space 1,excluded, as described, from the air-suction prevailing in the otherportion of the machine, is a shaft, 70, which is suitably j ournaled inthe end plates, a a and provided with five or any other convenientnumberof cams, h, the said cams being arranged reetangularly upon the shaft76, but pointing in diii'erent positions with relation to each other, aswill best be seen from Fi at of the drawings.

i= indicates elastic beaters of steel or other suitable metalcorresponding in number with the cams h upon the shaft k, the saidbeaters being secured to the side plate, A, of the frame Aby means ofdraw-springs 72, attached to their upper ends.

, i indicates plates pivoted to the side plate, A, and secured neartheir outer ends to the heaters i so as to project beyond the latter andform shoulders 6, against which the respective cams 71. will strike whenthe shaft is rotated in the direction of the arrow. The lower end ofeach beater i is provided with an eye for the reception of abeating-rod, m, composed of elastic wood or metal.

(0 indicates the rocking sieve, arranged in an inclined position in theusual manner, and constructed with a grating consisting of a series ofparallel bars or plates, 1), of wood, metal, or other suitable material,having inclined grooves or channels, (more particularly shown in Figs. 1and 2" of the drawings,) the said grooved bars or plates 1) beingarranged immediately above the sifti ng-surfaee and partaking in therocking movement of the rocking sieve a, of which they form a part. The

said rocking sieve a, no matter whether it be constructed with the saidgrating or without the same, is arranged immediately belou the lowersuction-surface of the filtering-cloth 0, so that all intermediateapparatus between the cloth 0 and the rocking sieveais avoided. Thegrooved bars I) may be so arranged that their channels will run eitherin a transverse or in alongitudinal direct-ion upon the rocking sieveto, the former arrangement being illustrated in the drawings. The lowerends of all the grooves in the bars I) deliver into a conveyer, f, whichis arranged near one side of the machine, but would have to be placednear one ot the ends of the latter if the longitudinal arrangement wereto be chosen for the grooved bars I) of the rocking sieve a. Therequired reciprocating motion is imparted to the latter in a well-knownmanner by means of the cocentric E.

E indicates a hopper for the reception of the substances to be separatedupon the sieve a, and r is abrush applied to an endless band intended tocleanse the lower surface of the said sieve, but forming no part of myinvention. Arranged below the rocking sieve a are two conveyers, '0 t,which serve for educting from the machine the purified heavy substancespassed through the sil'ting-surl'aee of the rocking sieve a. Either ofthe conveyers o 1/ may be covered entirely or partly by means of thehinged lids w, so as to allow of educting either the whole of thepurified substances by one conveyer only,or onepart of the saidsubstances by the one, and another part by the other conveyer.

0 0 indicate air-chambers or return-conduits connected with theventilators O O, and provided for the purpose of continuously returningthe air exhausted bythe said ventilators through the conduit 0 into themachine below the rocking sieve a. The walls of the conduits 0 areprovided with the valves (1 for regulating the entrance of airinto theportion of the machine under the rocking sieve a, and plates 1) arearranged obliquely behind the valves q, so as to cause the air returnedthrough the latter to break its force by striking against the saidplates and to become quieted in order not to disturb or agitate the massof substances upon the rocking sieve (1 Z Z indicate valves or shutters,which may be opened in cases where it is desired to introduce freshoutside air into the machine.

Motion is imparted to the several working parts of the machine asfollows-that is to say: The main driving-shaft 1, provided with theeccentric E for reciprocating the rocking sieve a, is rotated by meansof a pulley driven by any suitable motor, and through belts running overthe pulleys 12 and 13, secured upon the shafts 2 and 3, imparts rotarymotion to the latter, the former of which carries the fans of theventilators C, while the other shaft, 3, is provided with suitable bevelgear-wheels for revolving the shafts 4t and 5 of the conveyers '0 and'v, and with a pulley and belt for revolving the shaft 6. From thelatter motion is imparted to the endless band carrying the brushes 0,and through the said band to the shaft 7, which by means of abelt willrotate the shaft 8 of the feedingroller arranged below the lower end ofthe hopper E The conveyer f and its shaft 9 are rotated by the shaft 4by means of a belt and pulley, and this rotation is transferred to theroller (1 by means of the chain 14 and the sprocket-wheels 15 and 16.The rotation of the roller (1 will cause the sprocket-wheels Z,secur edthereto at both ends, to rotate likewise, and by means of the endlesschain c to transmit this rotatory motion to the other sprocket-wheelsZ,secured upon each end of the rollers d d" d", which will cause thelatter to revolve in due relation to the speed of the filtering-cloth 0,moved by the chain c, to the links of which it is secured. The roller dis provided with an extension upon which is secured the star-wheel 20,in gear with a similar pinion, 21, applied to the shaft 10 of theconveyor 1', the latter being thus revolved. A

' sprocket-wheel, 18, is secured upon an extension of the roller d andis connected,by means of an endless chain, 19, with asimilarsprocketwheel, 17, upon the end of the shaft 70 of the heating device,so that when the said roller (1 is rotated rotatory motion will also beim parted to the shaft is.

The operation of the improved machine for separating light and heavysubstances by means of air-suction is as follows-that is to say: Thesubstances to be separated fall upon the sifting-surface of the rockingsieve a from the hopper E and are moved forward on the said sieve byreason of its rocking movement, which causes the heavy portions of thesubstances to go to the bottom and to drop through the sifting-surfaceinto the conveyor 1; or o below. At the same time the ventilators G willdraw the air through the filtering-surface of the filteringcloth 0,arranged immediately above the rocking sieve a, the flow of air thusproduced acting quite uniformly upon every point of the substances to beseparated, so as to draw off the lighter portions of the same and carrythem upward toward the surface of the filteringcloth c.

It is well known that in purifying heavy substancessuch as middlings,for instance the air-suction, if properly regulated, does not possesssufficient power to carry the heavier portions of the light substancesdrawn off the rocking sieve sufficientlyhigh to bring or hold them incontact with the filtering-cloth. According to my invention the saidheavier portions of the light substances are prevented from falling backupon the rocking sieve and the substances thereon by the peculiarconstruction of the said sieve, which-has the grating formed of thegrooved bars I), and which allows the airto act with uniform suctionupon every point of the substances to be separated or purified, andcauses a high tension or compression of the air-current through thelongi l tndinal openings between the bars I), so that the lightsubstances which are dropped by the air before they reach thefilteringcloth 0 will be prevented, by the currents of compressed airrising between the bars I), from falling between the said bars upon themass of heavy substances below, but will be driven sidewise by the saidcompressed currents, and thus caused to drop into the grooves orchannels b, above which the aircurrents are of a comparatively reducedintensity. The heavier portions of the light substances which are thusdropped into the channels I) are delivered into the conveyer f by reasonof the rocking movement of the rocking sieve, and educted from themachine by said conveyer into some suitable receptacle. The lightsubstances carried upward against thefiltering-cloth 0 will adhere toand be carried on by the latter in the direction of the arrows, Fig. 2,until they enter the space y, which, as above stated, is not acted uponby the air-suction. On entering this space i, and while passing throughthe same, they are beaten off the filtering-cloth c by means of theheating device composed of the heaters 6* and the beating-rods m, as follows: The cam-shaft 7c is rotated by the roller (2 and the endlessconnecting-chain 19, as described, in the direction of the arrow, Fig.4, which rotation causes the cams h to strike alternately against theshoulders 45 on the pivot ed plates i of each of the heaters i so thatthe latter will be pressed away from the surface of the revolvingfiltering-cloth c. This movement of the boaters 6* will expand thedrawsprings i,attached to their upper ends. As the shoulders i arereleased by the cams h in quick and regular succession, the springs t"will alternately draw back the upper ends of the heaters i and throwtheir lower ends, provided with the transverse beating-rods m, with asudden elastic blow, against that portion of the filtering-cloth amoving before the space '1 which, as above stated, is excluded by theboard 9 from the action of the sucking air. The elastic blows thussuccessively applied to the said portion of the moving filtering-clothcause the light substances adhering to thelatter to fall off and dropinto the conveyer i.

positions, of the cams it upon the shaft 7c the beaters are pressed awaysuccessively from the cloth 0 and strike against the same one after theother, so that the several elastic beating-rods at will strike inregular alternation against the surface to be beaten without therebydisturbing the sucking surfaces of the filtering-cloth. The lightsubstances beaten off are conducted by the conveycr i into some suitablereceptacle. It will thus be seen from the above description that withthe construction of the machine as herein described the heavy substancespassed through the rocking sieve a will be conveyed away by theconveyers o o, the heavier portion of the light substances by theconveyor f, and the light substances by the con- With this modificationa rocking motion would have to be imparted to the said shaft by means ofsome suitable cam and eccentric, which would cause the beating-rods m tostrike simultaneously, instead of alternately, against the in closedportion of the filtering-cloth 0; but such arrangement would not be aspreferable as the one hereinbefore described, for the reason that thefiltering-surfaces of the cloth a would be more likely to be disturbedby the combined than by the alternate blows of the rods m.

In some cases, and more particularly where the machine is used forpurifying very light substances from dust andthe like, I may constructthe rocking sieve a without the grooved bars I) and regulate the flow ofair so that the dust and similar matter only are sucked off the mass ofsubstances on the rocking sieve. The air which is sucked through thefiltering-cloth c by the ventilators Gis continually returned by thereturn-conduits 0 into the machine be low the rocking sieve a, theobject of this arrangement being to avoid the necessity of drawing freshair into the machine from without.

Drawing in air from without the machine causes an unpleasant agitationof the air and a reduction of the temperature of the latter outside ofthe machine; but this difficulty is .obviated by the combination of theventilator O with the return-conduits 0, which allow of dispensing withthe introduction of outside air in the machine, since no air can escapefrom the machine, the same air being used over and over again for thepurification of the substances, as will be readily understood.

I am aware of the fact that in a former machine for filtering grains andother substances by means of air-suction an endless filteringeloth hasbeen proposed, and therefore Imake no claim for a revolving endlessfiltering cloth per 80,- but in the former instance referred to thefiltering-cloth was arranged so as to move in a longitudinal instead oftransverse direction of the machine, and was not apt to give goodresults in practical use, partly a for the reason of its saidlongitudinal arrangement and partly because of the difiiculty inconstructing the space not acted upon by the air-suction, but chieflyfor the reason that intermediate apparatus was provided be tween thesurface of the filtering-cloth and the rocking sieve, which wouldprevent the said surface, arranged at a comparatively great distanceabove the rocking sieve, from acting uniformly upon the entire surfaceof the substances to be purified, so that at some points part of theheavy substances would be carried oif by the ainsuction, while at otherpoints,again, the lightsubstances would not be sucked offat all andremain among the heavy substances after the purification. I obviate 1these difficulties with my improved machine, as herein described, byarranging the lower surface of the filtering cloth immediately above theupper surface of the rocking sieve, and by moving the endless cloth inthe transverse direction of the machine and providing for the space notacted upon by the air-suction in a simple and at the same time mosteffective manner.

I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to employingfour rollers, d, for guiding the filtering-cloth c, as it will be seenthat any suitable number of such rollers may be used for this purpose,and also that the roller (2 may be dispensed with and thefiltering-cloth conducted directly over the rollers d and d from theroller (1", if desired.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a machine for separatinglight and heavy substances by means of ail-suction, the combination of atraveling endless filter ing-cloth arranged within a casing to movetransversely to the length of the machine,and a rocking inclined sieveprovided with a grating composed of a series of parallel channeled barswith spaces between arranged im mediately below the traveling cloth,substantially as described. i

2. In a machine for separating heavy and light substances byair-suction, the combination of a casing, a series of rollers arrangedtherein, a traveling endless. filteringcloth supported by said rollers,a plate within said endless cloth and bearing against two of the endrollers, a plate located outside of the endless cloth with one end nextto the upper roll against which the inner plate rests, and the other endagainst the casing, a converging trough with a part thereof fittingclose to the lower roller against which the inner plate.

bears, and a plate extending from said trough to the side of the casing,substantially as described.

3. In a machine for separating heavy and light substances byair-suction, the combination of a series of rollers, a traveling endlessfiltering-cloth supported thereby, partitionplates for separating thespace above and below said endless cloth from aspace at the end thereof,and a plate within the endless cloth with its ends fitting against theupper and lower rolls at one end of the cloth, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a machine for separating light and heavy substances byair-suction, the combination of a traveling filtering-cloth, a series ofyelding beaters, springs connecting said heaters with a fixed part ofthe machine, a series of pivoted arms or plates connected to the heatersand projecting beyond the same, and

a rotating shaft provided with cams arranged to strike said arms and insuccession operate said heaters, substantially as described.

. 5. In a machine for separating light and heavy substances byair-suction, the combination of a traveling filtering-cloth, a series ofrollers supporting the same and having sprocket-wheels at their ends,sprocket-chains connecting said wheels, and the hooks passed through thelinks of the sprocket-chains and piercing the filtering-cloth,substantially as described.

6. In a machine for separating ,light and heavy substances byair-suction, the combination of a traveling filtering-cloth, a casinghaving end plates, a a bars bearing against the filtering-cloth, andplates a connecting said bars and plates 6/ a substantially asdescribed.

7. In a machine for separating light and heavy substances byair-suction, the combination of a traveling filtering-cloth, a rockinginclined sieve provided with a grating composed of a series of parallelchanneled bars with spaces between and arranged immediately below thetraveling 010th, the air-chambers 0 0, communicating with the spacebelow the rocking sieve, and the air-conduit O and yen tilators O G, forreturning air sucked through the filteringcloth to chambers 0,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HEINRICH SEOK.

